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Resole Your Hiking Boots

When you invest in an excellent pair of hiking boots, the last thing on your mind is replacing them in a few years. If you’re hitting the trail often though, chances are you’ll run those puppies to the ground in no time (literally and figuratively).

With Earth Day right around the corner, we’re all looking for ways to be more resourceful. So, instead of chucking those worn-out boots in the nearest Dumpster, why not get them repaired instead?

Obviously there are cases where a boot is beyond repairable. But most likely your hiking boots just need a little attention.

First stop by a local shoe repair shop. You can find one easily by Googling or asking around. And there’s always the Yellow Pages. Places that specialize in shoe repair might have the right supplies to mend your boot already. Plus, you’ll get to explain face-to-face the issues and potentially see how it will be fixed.

Before you head to the shop, realize that this isn’t a cheap service. Actually, many resoling projects will set you back $60 to $75. With that said, if you don’t want to let go of your current pair, it might be well worth it.

Can’t find someone locally? Mountain Soles offers resoling via mail order. A partner of Patagonia Footwear, the Oregon shoe repair shop can fix any boot with a black sole. Based in Colorado, Rocky Mountain Resole also does repair through the mail, and it covers almost every hiking brand from Asolo to Vasque.

Feeling even more resourceful? Try to resole your kicks all by yourself. According to HowStuffWorks, the project should take one to two hours. Be warned: There are a lot of materials that go into it including replacement rubber insoles, Vibram soles and waterproof shoe-repair adhesive.

Before you start the project, peruse YouTube for videos like the one below where a man demonstrates how he replaced the sole of his beloved pair of cowboy boots.

Thanks for the mention and link to Mountain Soles! We appreciate that! We can not “fix any boot with a black sole”. Changes in the style of construction and consumers habits have lead to many more cheaply made, disposable footwear in the market. These changes have made it difficult to replace soles on all shoes, but there are still shoes and boots out there that are re-soleable. Thanks!

With a size 16 foot I have had problems sourcing hiking boots most of my life.

Around 1985 I sourced a pair of leather hiking boots that fitted perfectly. I looked after those boots and had great service from them for over twenty years. In that time I had the boots resoled three times. The last resoling cost AUD $70.

Eventually the stitching and eyelets gave way and I had to source a new pair of boots.

I wasn’t able to source any boots in Australia (where I live) or New Zealand but came across http://www.oddball.com in the US where I have bought size 16D Keen hiking boots and shoes for around USD $150 a pair.

Interesting, I can get the same Keen boots and shoes in Australia but only up to size 14.